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N – Libraries make come back24 December 2008Almost 60% of respondents said that they used library technology to help navigate to scholarly content 95% of the time, in a three year study. But publishers have responded less well to changes in users’ behaviour: readers are more likely than ever to visit a journal’s website at the article or abstract level. The white […]
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N – Subeditors demand writer’s respect22 December 2008An expletive splattered leaked email shows the contempt that the restaurant reviewer Giles Coren has for subeditors at the Sunday Times newspaper. Coren’s 1000 word rant was complaining about the removal of a single indefinite article: “I do not enjoy the suggestion that you have a better ear or eye for how I want my […]
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N – Springer buys BioMed Central22 December 2008Springer Science and Business Media agreed in October to acquire the BioMed Central Group, a pioneering global open access publisher. BioMed Central was launched in May 2000 as an independent, for profit, publisher committed to providing free access to peer reviewed biological and medical research. It is the largest open access provider in the world […]
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N – Open access association launched22 December 2008The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (www.oaspa.org) was launched in October. Its mission is to support and represent the interests of open access journals publishers globally in all scholarly disciplines through an exchange of information, setting industry standards, and advancing business and publishing models. Membership is open to signatories of the Berlin or Budapest declarations […]
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N – Treat Déjà Vu with caution22 December 2008Déjà Vu (http://spore.swmed.edu/dejavu), a free database of “extremely similar Medline citations,” which might represent duplicate publications, is not always to be trusted. An editorial in Clinical Chemistry points out many false entries and warns that inclusion might damage the reputation and career of honest scientists. Reasons for misclassification include publisher error, follow-up studies from the […]
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N – Campaigners criticise misconduct policy22 December 2008The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) has issued a standard procedure for universities to deal with allegations of research misconduct. But it has been criticised, with one campaigner comparing it to a “Band-Aid on a cancer.” The guidance says that universities should use at least one external investigator but only after senior staff have decided […]
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N – The blog is dead22 December 2008Don’t bother starting a blog. “Cut rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths,” says Paul Boutin, writing on www.wired.com. Jason Calacanis, who made millions from Weblogs, quit because “blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it.” “The time it […]
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N – SfEP chairwoman thinks strategy19 December 2008Sarah Price has taken the helm as chairwoman of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP). The society hopes that other appointments to the council will strengthen its strategic planning. “Our new professional development director will be building our portfolio of qualifications after our recent addition of the licentiateship in editorial skills with the City […]
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N – COPE redesigns website19 December 2008The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) has a redesigned website and a new URL—http://publicationethics.org. It has also prepared guidelines for boards of directors of learned journals (http://publicationethics.org/guidelines). Journals should update any link to COPE’s website in their instructions. COPE welcomes comments on the guidelines and the new website. The committee is concerned with the integrity […]
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N – Lust in translation19 December 2008The prestigious Max Planck Society has apologised after using calligraphy on the cover of a special China issue of its flagship magazine that turned out to advertise a Hong Kong strip club. The institute replaced the cover, which advertises “hot, young housewives,” of the online and English edition of Max Planck Forschung but not before […]
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B – The future of science: building a better collective memory14 December 2008Nielsen, Michael A. The future of science: building a better collective memory APS News 2008 17(10)8 Article discussing the relative failure of science to improve the long-term memory and short-term use of the internet to enhance science communication beyond that using conventional journals. Most attempts to create comment sites where scientists can share their opinions […]
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B- Licence to publish better than copyright transfer14 December 2008Taylor, R.I. Licence to publish better than copyright transfer APS News.2008,17(10)4 Letter advocating the policy of the author’s employers, a commercial organisation, that never transfers copyright but only deals with journals prepared to accept a Licence to Publlish agreement, which allows the publisher to print the article in their own format and to distribute electronically, […]
